The Merck UNC Research Forum and Idea Exchange is a chance for UNC graduate students, postdocs, scientists, staff, and faculty to share their current work with the campus research community and with R&D scientists from Merck.  

This day-long event will feature keynote speakers from Merck and academia including
1) Dr. Jason Cheung, Distinguished Scientist in Biologics at Merck
2) Dr. Michael Fitzgerald from Duke Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

More than 20 scientists will be visiting from Merck facilities in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Boston. There will also be lightning talks (10-15 minutes each) from trainees, free continental breakfast and lunch (for those who register by October 17th), a poster session, career panels, and networking events. Come for the whole day or as much of the event as your schedule allows. There will be awards for the top poster presenters.

If you are interested in presenting a poster or a lightning talk please email Julie McIntosh (Julie.McIntosh@Merck.com) with a title and short abstract by September 29th. Please specify if you would like to be considered for poster, talk, or either. Presenters will be notified by October 5th if their poster of lightning talk is accepted.

Symposium Agenda:

Thursday, October 19, 2023 
 
8:00am Registration and Breakfast, Murray Hall, Ground Floor Lobby 

8:45 Welcome Remarks and intro to Merck, Eric Routhier, Distinguished Scientist, Merck Large Molecule Analytical Validation Analytical R&D, Murray Hall, Room G202 

9:00 Merck Science Keynote Address - Dr. Jason Cheung - Distinguished Scientist, Merck Biologics AR&D. Title: From Modality-Specific to Boundaryless Analytics – Delivering the Pipeline of Tomorrow Murray Hall, Room G202 

10:00 Lightning talks from UNC postdocs and grad students, Murray Hall, Room G202 

11:00 UNC Research Poster Session, Murray Hall, Ground Floor Lobby 

12:00pm Networking Lunch with Merck Scientists, Murray Hall, Three separate ground-floor classrooms, each with 5-6 Merck scientists 

1:00 Merck Science Poster, Murray Hall, Ground Floor Lobby  

2:00 Speed Networking (elevator pitch and resume review available), Murray Hall, Ground Floor Lobby 

2:30 Academic Keynote Address - Dr. Michael Fitzgerald - Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Duke, Murray Hall, Room G202 

3:30 Panel Discussion on Career Paths and Opportunities in Industry, Murray Hall, Room G202  

4:30 Closing remarks by Kartik Narayan, Executive Director, Merck Vaccines AR&D, Murray Hall, Room G202